The Art in Life

Vacating

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Hannah

There is something so nice about vacating. And yes, I mean vacating, not vacationing. I like that vacating implies a sudden emptiness, like we just disappeared, because that is what is so magical about vacations: we disappear from life just for a little while.

And you know what? Life really doesn’t miss us much or protest our absence.

So this trip, I’m not fighting the vacating. I’m still occasionally checking things on my phone and instagramming (because, duh, it’s totally fun and the rest of the summer has me chilling in my apartment a lot and no one cares about that) but I think there won’t be any blogs till the end of next week. I typed this one out on my phone, but I don’t really know how to text type and it took me way too long and auto correct kept changing my innocent words into horrible inappropriate things. The one finger I used to type this whole thing is pretty sore.

So until then, James and I are with my family here:

Waking up here:

Hiking and marveling at this beautiful world we live in:

May you all find a way to vacate this summer, for however brief a time. Enjoy being absent and forgotten.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adventure, family, iphone pics, travel | 5 Comments

At a glance.

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Hannah

Today, a Great Thing shall happen that has not happened in some time:

Stone family road trip.

1, 313 miles.

One vehicle.

4 very tall people.*

Lots of books.

At least 2 stops at Cracker Barrel.

Several times singing along with every word on the entire Lorne Greene Bonanza CD.

Potential detours to see any place that a covered wagon might have been at any point in history.

At least one car fight.

“This American Life” podcasts, books on tape, and if it gets really serious in the wasteland that is Kansas… I can’t promise that Adventures in Odyssey won’t be resurrected from our childhood.

Destination: Buena Vista, Colorado.

People, we are vacating and it’s going to be good.

But first, this past week at a glance.

Empty roads and big skies on the drive from DC to KY. Pitstop for treats with big brother in Charlottesville. Wedding prep. Forbidden pool that became the site of the infamous Granny-Hannah pool bust of 2013. Cutest two walking buddies ever. Lunch date with a new haircut and an old bestie. Summer storm. Evenings with granny and Ivan the Terrible. The boys getting rowdy. Finally seeing what all the fuss is about at North Lime Coffee and Donuts. Going to miss this sweet family. Gelato and horrible dollar movie night with my oldest friend. Morning grooming the boys. Little brother who can’t possibly be old enough to graduate college.

*In case you were doing the math and getting worried, James and Zach are flying to CO to meet up with the rest of the pack. I haven’t seen that handsome husband of mine for ten days and I am ready to be back with him!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged iphone pics, kentucky, road trip, summer, travel | 5 Comments

The things that make it home.

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Hannah

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They say that the older you get, the more you realize that home is less a physical location, and more the people that matter.

A part of me believes this. Over the past ten months, home has become where James is. It helps that our apartment is teeny, and can only be decorated so much. Its sensation of hominess stems from the fact that it is where we are making our first home. It comes from the evenings spent laughing on the couch and sharing dinner with friends. It comes from coming home to someone you love and knowing that this place is ours to share. It comes from being with James. When he is there, it is home, and when he isn’t, it is a neat little space that holds our stuff and has really good wifi.

But another part of me thinks that the emphasis on home being a personal connection rather than a physical place misses something, and when I come back to Kentucky I am reminded of that. The big brick house on the hill in Wilmore, surrounded by trees and horse fields is home because my family built it and lives there, of course, but I don’t think that is all. This place is home, in and of itself. Even when my parents move away someday, after they are fed up with the horses, or the trees that keep on dying, or the grass that won’t stay trimmed, this place will carry within itself a certain quality of home for me. This place matters, and this place is home, not just a place where home happened. This grass that feels so good beneath my feet, the way that the sunlight filters through the walnut trees, the cocktail of aromas that define the air in spring, a mixture of honeysuckle, grass clippings, and hay – these things are home. The way the house creaks in just a certain way, the wall where we have marked out our heights since birth (transferred when we made the one move in my childhood, a whole two miles), or the swing that sways lazily back and forth on the porch – these things are home. The woods, the barn, the horses, the house, and the creek – all of these physical trappings have spent years assuming qualities and memories that forbid any divorce between themselves and that illusive metaphysical quality of home.

Which makes me wonder, when will another spot feel like home in this way? When will another physical spot contain enough in itself to supplant the fixed element of homeness that this little farm in Kentucky has? Or is our definition of home continually expanding to make room for not just the people who define it, but the places that become it?

Do you have one place that stands out as home for you, no matter where you are living now or how long you have been away?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged home, horses, kentucky, photography, quotations, wilmore, words | 6 Comments

The Worthams

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Hannah

I am in Kentucky all this week and it is glorious. I never get tired of coming home, and this week I have gotten to spend some quality time with two of my favorite girls, Amanda and Emmie Rose. By this I mean trying to pretend like that precious redheaded baby belongs to me and being a little stingy with stroller pushing privileges.

It is bittersweet spending time with Amanda this week because the Worthams are moving to Alabama next week and will be sorely missed. True, I don’t live here most of the year… but I selfishly want everyone in one spot for when I come visit. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about coming to visit Kentucky and not spending time with Amanda. I hate thinking that there won’t be as many occasions for poetry, walks, and sun salutations, book discussions where we yank our hair really hard to emphasize our feelings and afternoons at the pool. Sometimes I wonder how we have crammed so much friendship into only three years.

We squeezed in a quick photo shoot one afternoon this week to get a couple pictures of the whole family before they move, and because I know you were just dying to see how much Emmie has grown since Christmas. Here are just a couple shots. And yes, we did change her clothes three times in 30 minutes. What good is having a daughter if you can’t play dress-up? theworthams3 Wortham family, you will be very missed, because you are so very loved.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby, black and white, friends, kentucky, photography | 8 Comments

Why I love DC: Tea at the Strathmore

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Hannah

You all know by now that there is nothing I love more than a good tea party. (Remember the great search for the best tea room in Paris here and here? And remember this?)

Unfortunately, James is not into tea parties (“You call THESE sandwiches??? They’re like 2 inches big!”) so my exploration of the DC tea room scene has been sorely lacking. Luckily, I am blessed to work in a field that is ~~entirely~~ mostly female. I share an office with all the other grad student TAs and it is basically girl time, all the time. Shopping might be the most popular conversation topic, and I have actually brought my straightener to the office to do hair tutorials during office hours. Next year we will be getting a guy in the office and it will be an adjustment for everyone, but he has promised not to make us stop talking about girly stuff. To celebrate the end of the semester, we all went to the Strathmore Mansion to have afternoon tea.

I am pretty sure that I could happily eat tea party food for the every meal and be just fine. Mini-sandwhiches with the crusts cut off! Tiny cucumber bites! Scones and clotted cream! Exclamation marks for tea party food! What it is: The Stratmore family donated a substantial portion of their land and money to the arts, and there is a big music hall up in Bethesda with the original family mansion nearby. The mansion has all sorts of beautiful rooms where modern textile art contrasts with antique furnishings. They serve afternoon tea with lovely table settings, delicious food, and live music.

Where it is: 10701 Rockville Pike North Bethesda, MD 20852 (Ok, so this isn’t technically in DC, but it is metro accessible, so I am counting it. It also isn’t somewhere I can go regularly, as our budget doesn’t allow endless tea parties… but I still had to share.)

Why you should be excited: When was the last time you attended an all-out tea party? If the answer doesn’t fall in the last five years, then there just might be a tea party void in your soul that must be filled. Come and fill it with spoonfuls of clotted cream and mini eclairs. Come and hold that pinkie aloft while you drink tea from a dainty cup instead of a stained mug. Come and revel in the delicate perfection of mini sandwiches and pink table clothes. Come and pretend to be way classier than you just might be. Because that is the power of a good tea party. I guess I should also say that I love DC because living here has let me get to know these women! I can’t imagine grad school any other way than surrounded by such a fun and supportive group of ladies.

I am also renewed in my tea room love and I’m eager to try some more in the area. Anyone know of any great places to have afternoon tea in the district?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged food, iphone pics, tea rooms, why i love dc | 2 Comments

I hate working out.

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Hannah

Confession: I hate working out and I only do it to avoid getting fat. And yes, this is a whole post of quintessential first-world problems.

I should preface this rant with the recognition that I am not a skinny person. There have been moments in my life where I have been slim, but those are not the norm. I’m not being all self-deprecating and calling myself fat, but I am recognizing that I am American normal, which means that I could stand to loose ten pounds, but I’m not going to have any problems getting the arm rests down at the movie theatre. I’m also almost six feet tall, so I like to think of myself as proportionate.

My height/weight combo means that I do not feel any sympathy for skinny person problems. By this I mean the favorite rant of slender people, “vanity sizing.” Do I feel sorry that the willingness of designers to shift sizes and allow me to continue wearing my size forever has forced you into a 0 instead of a 2? No, no I do not. I am vain enough to love vanity sizing. Thank you, fashion industry (except you, Abercrombie). What even is a 0, or a double 00… do you have negative mass??? This isn’t against these tiny people — it is against an industry that has assigned them a totally nonsensical number.) But vanity sizing can only do so much, and I like to stay relatively constant, which brings me to exercise.

There are people, rare special people, who can eat whatever they want, never work out, and look awesome.

I am not one of those people. I’m pretty sure that if I thought about a donut long enough, it would appear on my hips.

And so, I exercise. Yes, I like the endorphins, and yes, it makes me feel better about the whole day if I get some physical activity in, and yes, I have some weird obsession with only showering if I have “earned it.” But mostly, I just want to run long enough to justify a milkshake… or two. I wish that I loved working out. If I did, I would probably finally start using Twitter, just so I could chirpily tweet out my amazing work outs and feel superior.

If you remember those lofty resolutions from January, I decided to do a noble experiment and mix up my 12-year work out regimen of almost exclusively running with some cool gym classes. I went dutifully to a cycling class 1-2 times a week, every week, all semester. (I also attended a Step class once, which was just as humiliating as I’m sure it was for my uncoordinated ancestors in the 80’s, only minus the brightly colored leotards. The instructor did however play lots of boy band music from the nineties, which might be the best work out music ever. I would have sung along, but I didn’t want my perfect knowledge of every single lyric to every single Backstreet Boy song to intimidate others, so instead I just lip synced furiously.)

After this exhaustive foray into being a Gym Go-er, I can definitively say that I hate working out. At least with running, you see cool stuff, like puppies or blossoming trees or shady looking people in side alleys (hooray DC!), but in the gym, I am painfully aware of my own misery. Here is what a typical Spinning Class with Hannah is like:

5:00: Arrive 15 minutes early to set up bike. Struggle to achieve the correct height, despite having done it ALL SEMESTER.

5:15: Start warming up, which is totally a bad name, since I am pretty much roasting from the second I walk in there. Peppy instructor says she will turn on the fans “once things get hot.”

5:20: Make wild gestures to indicate that I need the fans NOW. In an entire semester of classes, I was the one to beg for the fans every. single. time. (Except when Kristen did once, because we might be sweat kindred spirits).

5:25: Now that shirt is totally soaked through, start wiping face on towel. One week I forgot my towel and that got real ugly real fast.

5:35: Token Beyonce song comes on and I experience a brief Queen B centered revival.

5:40: Beyonce song ends and I re-plunge into despair as Peppy Instructor tells us to “go faster with our FEET not by turning down the resistance” and I consider walking out and leaving her and all the chirpy sorority girls texting while biking behind.

5:45-6:05: Misery. Sweat. Stare at clock. Repeat.

6:10: Cool down, stretching, self-congratulation.

And then I walk out and decide to have ice cream for dinner, because you know, I worked out and stuff.

Are you all Gym Go-ers? Despite my hatred, I will probably keep going, so I am always up for fun new classes. What work out regimens do you like/ what songs do you play to numb the pain?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged confessions, daily life, exercise, health, rants, resolutions | 21 Comments

Stephen & Leslie

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Hannah

When we did our pre-marital counseling last spring, our mentor couple told us that we would be lucky to find “couple friends,” you know, friends where we both like both of them equally. James and I feel so blessed that we have several couple friends here in DC. We feel especially happy to be besties with this couple. Not a week goes by that we don’t have dinner with them, or watch movies, or play games, and James and I feel a little lost if a weekend comes around and they are out of town. When Stephen and Leslie told me that they were engaged, I promptly burst into tears. I am so excited to share some of their engagement pictures today, and I am sharing way too many because I just love these two so much. Can’t wait for October!!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged color, DC, Eastern Market, engagement, friends, love, Old Town, photography | 15 Comments

Perfection.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Hannah

Last Friday night James and I got burgers at Five Guys went to go see The Great Gatsby. (Have you seen it yet? My response: “It’s just like the book – I LOVE IT!” James’ response: “It’s just like the book – I hate it.”) We headed home afterwards and sat on our porch drinking minty strawberry lemonade while the first spring storm rained down around us, until rain started blowing in and forced us inside. We got up early the next morning to meet friends for brunch at Founding Farmers, so early in fact, that James insists it was just normal breakfast and not brunch. When we got home, I went in to the bedroom to grab some chapstick… and woke up almost two hours later. (Those are always the best naps, right???) The rest of the day was spent paper writing, cleaning, and puttering around our little home, until friends came over for dinner and more minty strawberry lemonade was consumed on the porch. We played cards until midnight, laughing and eating strawberry shortcake and wishing for summer. Through it all, I Instagrammed way too many photos of James looking like grumpy cat, a trade-off he made in exchange for no photos on date night. (Can I just say that by the end of the day and successfully getting the agreed upon 10 photos, I was totally burnt out on Instagram. Sheesh. James wins. ) On Sunday we followed church with BBQ in Old Town, calls to our mothers, and a lazy Sunday afternoon that had all the best elements of relaxation, which is to say, naps, more minty strawberry lemonade (because we are obsessed), walks, mindless television, and chocolate chips eaten straight from the bag.

At the end of the weekend, we just couldn’t stop saying it: “This was a perfect weekend.”

But why? We didn’t do anything super exciting, didn’t go anywhere really flashy, didn’t dine at a glitzy restaurant, see a show, or throw an awesome party. We did get all the laundry folded, the bathroom scrubbed, the groceries restocked, and the bills paid, but we didn’t have an adventure, or do anything objectively exciting. Instead, we got sleep that restored, ate food that satisfied, and hugged friends that are loved. We did the work that needed to be done so it didn’t consume us the rest of the week, laughed the deep belly-laughs that leave you breathless, and talked with the ones that we miss on a daily basis. We spent the weekend together. Not running separately in pursuit of a million different things, but being close to each other and delighting in the mundane fun of ordinary existence. And that is perfection.

What does a perfect weekend look like for you?

(PS- that picture is one from Stephen and Leslie’s engagement shoot. Check back tomorrow for all the rest!)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged husband, James, love, marriage, photography, weekend fun, words | 9 Comments

What I’ve learned from 24.

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Hannah

I wasn’t going to write a post where you all saw how incredibly addicted to a couple TV shows I am, really I wasn’t. And then I saw this really exciting news and I got so excited that I had to share.

I know that the rest of you watched 24 back in the early 2000s, but I was busy designing clothes for my American Girl dolls and convincing my parents that we should get a pony, so I have a little catch-up. James and I started it a couple months ago, and I am a little addicted. I mean, how can you stop watching a show where one man will save us all from looming terrorist threat SO MANY TIMES IN ONE DAY???? I mean, when does he go to the bathroom or eat??? Oh wait, he’s Jack Bauer — he has already dominated all bodily functions and feeds off his own adrenaline to keep going. And once you start watching an episode… you have to watch another, and another, until you too have spent a day in real time stressing over terrorists. This is a big deal for me, since my favorite tv shows ever are more along the lines of Gilmore Girls, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and Boy Meets World. But something about the whole world hanging in the brink of disaster, Jack Bauer’s flagrant disregard of the law, and unapologetic evil of the bad guys that was possible in the early 2000s (now we get all concerned with “understanding their stories”), is just really hitting the spot while I grade papers and tests.

I have learned a lot of valuable lessons from 24, and I have a few to share with you today, prompted by my excitement that it is coming back, the fact that we watched wayyyy too many episodes last night, and the fact that I am bored with the writing of my own final paper… which doesn’t bode well for the professor who will have to read it.

Trust no one. There are all spies. Or they know spies and don’t know they are spies and will accidentally turn you over to terrorists, who are lurking everywhere, all the time.
If Jack Bauer says to trust him in a super intense and ragged voice, and he will do so at least five times per episode, you should, even if it involves breaking a lot of laws and risking the lives of countless individuals. Otherwise, the entire safety of America/the world will be in jeopardy.
David Palmer for president, for life. I now feel the need to sneer at all political hopefuls and inform them that they are no David Palmer. It makes me want to find and elect him and buy Allstate insurance.
Behind every David Palmer, there is a Sherry Palmer…. don’t ask how she gets things done because you don’t want to know. Like maybe she yelled at your political enemy so ferociously that he had a heart attack.
Kim Bauer is always bad news, 100% of the time. Stay away from her, and people like her, or you will get killed/maimed/lose limbs in trying to save her from her own idiocy. (I tried to find a picture of Kim to put here, but she looks kind of trashier than I want on my blog… which proves that there is really only one reason they keep her on the show.)
If you suspect you might be like Kim Bauer, do not ever follow your instincts. Do not go after escaped terrorists alone, do not decide that dark deserted alleys look inviting, and for the love of all that is good, just obey when someone smarter than you (which would mean everyone) tells you to do something.
If you think you won’t give up important facts no matter how much someone tortures you — you’re wrong. You have not met Jack Bauer. So just do it early so I can take a pillow off my face because those scenes are a little much for me.
Los Angeles is a horrible place. After a couple seasons of 24, I am confirmed in my decision to never go to L.A. for any reason. It is unattractive and dangerous. You never know when you could be innocently driving along the free way and SUDDENLY GET CAUGHT IN A HIGH SPEED CHASE WITH TERRORISTS AND DIE, or be just doing your daily stuff and find out you are at risk for a high contagious air-borne super virus, or find out that there is a bomb about to go off. Basically, L.A. is just bad news and I have decided to increase my chances of happy healthy living (read: not being killed by terrorists) by never going to this city. (I realize that D.C. isn’t exactly far off the list of top targets… but it has yet to have many seasons of a suspenseful show dedicated to all the ways I could innocently die here.

I am pretty pumped to watch the new season of 24 for many reasons, but one of the biggest: smartphones. This is going to seriously revolutionize stuff. I am also secretly hoping that Kim dies in one of the seasons I haven’t watched yet because I just can’t take her anymore.

Are you a 24 fan … or where you one when it actually came out like a million years ago?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged confessions, tv | 13 Comments

I am my mother’s daughter.

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Hannah

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Today our pastor preached an especially god Mother’s Day sermon, which is to say that it didn’t talk specifically to mothers. He recognized the role of parents in general, but also of all women in the Christian community – single, married, widowed, young, old, childless, adopting, expectant, etc. He reminded children – of all ages, but specifically older children out of the house – to try to recognize all the things their parents taught them.

I am definitely my mother’s daughter. We look a lot alike, talk alike, do the same hand gestures, and repeat the same expressions. She taught me that bigger hair is better hair and that you can never have too many shoes unless they are uncomfortable ones. She taught me that you should always clean your house and do your nails before going on vacation and you should never run out of hairspray. She taught me to dress to fit my body type, even if it isn’t in style, which is why the Stone women have been rocking princess cut dresses for a long time and there is no end in sight. She taught me how to set a table, clean spots of the walls, and how to make perfect pie crust. She taught me that notes are best left on chairs in the middle of the entryway where people will trip over them and that cards should always be homemade from pictures clipped from magazines. She taught me that mud is for playing in and poising ivy is for avoiding. She taught me that you can never wash your hands too many times and you always need pockets for tissues. She taught me to talk to animals and pick up trash that other people avoid. She taught me to always look for imperfections when I am shopping and then haggle for a deal as if we still lived in a bartering economy.

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She also taught be that “the best way to be happy is to put others first.” She taught me that there is always a way to share your faith, even at birthday parties or work. She taught me that I am a child of the King and that I should stand up straight and act like it. She taught me that you should include everyone, even if you don’t want to. She taught me that you do what is right even if everyone else wants to do something different.

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So I guess I am pretty proud to be my mother’s daughter.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blessed, family, mom | 14 Comments